Haha, don’t let it bother you too much La Sabrosona (deliciously attractive woman? – nice) 😉 – I think the term haiku is used fairly loosely across the board. Your poetry is beautiful, whether it strictly qualifies as haiku or not isn’t important.

I stick to calling mine 5-7-5 in reference to the syllable count, as they drift between haiku (focus on nature), senryu (focus on human nature) and just plain old verse in 5-7-5 format.

Judy’s explanation is a very good one. My understanding of a haiku is that:
– it focuses on nature,
– has a ‘season’ word or thought to let the reader know what time of year it is,
– has a division somewhere, usually towards or at the end of the second line, that shifts the focus from one thing to another. The link between these two things works best if it is surprising and offers a fresh take on the subject,
– instead of saying how the scene makes you feel, try to show the details that caused the emotion in the first place.

I tend to write more senryu. These are similar to the above explanation except that the focus is much more on human nature than on nature.

This is only my understanding and the guide I write by. Traditional haiku has even tighter rules and would take a lifetime to learn and ten lifetimes to master 🙂

Mil gracias for taking the time to explain all that Ryan. Appreciate it tons! Makes a lot more sense now. I tend to write off the cuff anyway, so I’m not really that much into rules but I will do my best. Do you speak/understand Spanish btw?

Never too late to learn! Maybe you’ll pick up some new words if you continue to visit my “casa” *hint hint* 😀
Actually last year in the spring I got a flash of inspiration and I wrote my first poem in Spanish. I was very proud of the fact that I can think in Spanish well enough to pump out a poem (English is my first language), and I only began to learn Spanish in my late 20’s.
Holy Chatty Cathy eh? What time is it where you are?

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Ryan Stone writes after midnight. His short fiction and poetry have appeared in publications including Eunoia Review, The Drabble, Algebra of Owls and Silver Birch Press and won prizes in a number of competitions at venues including Grindstone, Writer Advice, Goodreads, Writers’ Forum Magazine and Poetry Nook. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.